


Anarchy

by nineofwords



Category: Neoscum (Podcast), Shadowrun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 09:08:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16014776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nineofwords/pseuds/nineofwords
Summary: There's a lot of people out there just looking for a genuine connection. Some of them start fights. Some start support groups. Some do both.





	Anarchy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The Neoscum Crew](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=The+Neoscum+Crew).



“Good evening, everyone,” group leader Irwin said, standing up and addressing the circle. “Thank you for coming to tonight’s SKA meeting. We have a very special guest here with us. She hardly needs an introduction from me, so I’ll hand things off to her.” Irwin sat to applause as a woman stood. She had long, dirty blond hair kept out of her face by her trucker’s hat.

“Hey everyone,” she said. “I’m Baby.”

“Hi, Baby,” everyone said in unison.

She gave the circle a tongue click and finger guns. “You know that’s what I like to hear. But seriously, folks, you have no idea what it means to see all of you here at ‘Sister’s Kid Anonymous’. It means so much to me that you’re all reaching out and finding one another. I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but I want to share the story of why I started this support group. I’ve found it gets other people to open up when I do.

“Like many of you, I grew up in a single parent household. My mom didn’t like talking about my dad, so I never knew him. Every once in awhile, this guy would come through town and spend time with me. He’d take me out for ice cream, give me driving lessons. You know, all the kinds of things a dad would do. And he always introduced me to people as his sister’s kid. But he never stuck around long, and he never gave me a way to get in touch with him, and I don’t need to tell all of you how much that fucks with a kid’s head.

“So, naturally, when I got old enough, I hit the road. Figured it was smart. If anybody got too close, I could leave before they did. Cause I genuinely believed  _ everyone _ would try to leave me eventually. I was so fucked up, y’all. I  _ actively  _ hated men, hated commitment even more. I was mean and violent. I was an absolute dick, and I’ll be honest, I hated myself most of all.

“But then one day, I started talking to this kid who told me about a trucker who’d swing through town and act like a dad every once in a while. And we just sat around and shot the shit and it was one of the most healing, therapeutic moments of my life. And I realized I wanted more of that. So I started finding people who had similar stories to mine. And I started networking, making connections, and now we have these meetings all over the continent. And that’s amazing to me, it’s amazing that I can hop in my truck and drive anywhere and know that I’ll find people who get me the way y’all do. That’s fucking  _ amazing _ .

“Anyway, I’ll stop grandstanding. I want to hear from you crazy kids. This is  _ your _ meeting, and I’m just the guest. So let’s get this fucking party started!” Baby sat back down to enthusiastic applause.

“Thank you, Baby,” Irwin said. “We’re absolutely honored to have you here.” Baby waved the compliment away, but she was grinning. “Alright, who wants to follow that?” There were scattered chuckles.

One of the people in the circle stood up abruptly. “So I’ve been having this problem where I’m like...really destructive? All the time? And I don’t...I don’t know what to do about it and it kind of freaks me out. Like, if there’s some asshole trying to start shit, I just want to like...shoot him in his stupid fucking face before he has a chance to open his mouth, you know? And I can’t hold down a steady job, either, because whenever someone starts trying to tell me what to do, I just want to break something or threaten them. And I don’t have the  _ best _ impulse control? So like...I typically end up doing exactly that. And I don’t know how much of that is from my anger at being abandoned or just me being fucked up some other way, but it’s really been bothering me and I just needed to get that off my chest.” She sat down as abruptly as she’d stood.

“I had that problem a lot,” one of the other group members said, not bothering to stand. “You should try shadowrunning. Not only is the pay great, people actually  _ expect  _ you to do all those things. It’s kind of the perfect gig.”

Irwin stood up abruptly. “I need to put out here very quickly that SKA as an organization technically cannot endorse the sort of questionably moral lifestyle shadowrunning brings,” they said.

“Oh sit your ass down,” Baby said amiably. “We may be a lot of things, but no one here’s a snitch.” Slowly, Irwin sat back down.

“Okay, I have to ask,” someone said, leaning into the circle. “Does anyone else randomly just...ask people to team up with them? Just out of the blue?”

Several people immediately jumped in with agreement:

“Constantly.”

“Yes!”

“All the  _ fucking _ time.”

“ _ Thank _ you, I thought I was losing - ”

“ - bizzare thing I’ve ever - ”

It took a few minutes before things settled down again, but the orderly proceedings were immediately shattered by someone else chiming in: “Who else likes making direct eye contact when they’re taking a shit?” And once again the meeting was derailed with shouts of agreement.

Finally, someone stood up. “Everyone shut the fuck up, I got a wild one.” There were a few protests of “fuck you” and “up yours” but ultimately everyone quieted down to listen to what he had to say. “So I had this fucking bananas dream a while back. So I’ve got this mind palace, right? Something I’ve never had before. And I’m on my computer, using my ‘brain internet’. My dream was very clear that this was what it was called. And suddenly I get this message from the man himself. And I’m like ‘wow that’s fucking wild’ and when I open it, it’s this long, personalized message to me, apologizing for all the shit he put me through. So who the fuck else has had  _ that _ dream, huh?”

For a brief moment, you could’ve heard a pin drop. Then the room exploded. People jumped out of their seats and got right in his face, asking for more details. Others turned to their neighbors, not bothering to get up, and started talking animatedly about their own version of the  _ same dream _ , comparing notes. For a moment, Irwin started trying to make himself heard over the din.

“Oh don’t bother,” Baby said, picking idly at her teeth, leaning back in her chair. “They’re having fun. Working through their shit. This is good.” She gestured. “This is what progress looks like for sister’s kids.” Irwin sat slowly. Baby patted his leg affectionately. “Relax. Enjoy the chaos. Lord knows we thrive on it.” For a moment she had a sad, faraway look in her eyes. Then she jumped to her feet and screamed “ _ WHO WANTS TO GET INTO A FUCKING FIGHT? _ ” The already frenzied activity in the room suddenly swelled as everyone screamed in agreement, and the sounds of chairs being smashed punctuated the shouting and sounds of flesh connecting with flesh.


End file.
